_ September 3, 2019_ Lucian Costea

Process automation - Episode 1

Horsepower

Do you like cars? If you don’t, stick with me, you will. And if you do, let’s take a moment to appreciate those who saw the benefits of process automation. Ready? Good!

In the early days of car manufacturing, in the late 1800s, everything was done by hand, with direct human involvement. To produce one car, took a relatively long time and effort. Think about it, it took thirty American manufactures to produce 2500 vehicles in 1899. But then Henry Ford entered the scene.

Well, the luck struck us all. Because he wanted to produce a larger volume of cars and at lower prices than the European competitors, he had an idea. Of course, nothing helped more than the low prices of raw material and the lack of skilled laborers. So, he decided to mechanize the whole industrial process. And, guess what? In 1913, the US produced 485.000 of the total of 606.124 motor vehicles. After that, the idea was adopted by other American automobile manufactures and the whole world eventually.

But what is process automation?

It is a process, which involves the use of technology to automate the process to sequentially transit from one task to the next with minimum human intervention. If a company wants to stay profitable, it is mandatory to automate processes in order to stay relevant and competitive.

What are the benefits of process automation?

Among the many benefits, you will find higher production rates and increased productivity, a more efficient use of materials and products have better quality. Moreover, it improves safety, which means that the employees are working in a safe environment, it protects them from the hazards of the factory environment. Another benefit of process automation consists in reducing the weekly worked hours, leading to happy employees and reduces corporate turn over.

Process automation at CoSo by AROBS

CoSo by AROBS is highly specialized in process automation. For more than 26 years, it has been its main activity. A 15 process control engineers team make sure that any application is perfect when delivered to the client. CoSo can provide knowledge on various technology, such as PLC, ESD and DCS, ATEX, Wireless ISA S88/Batch and SIL.